International academic staff at the four largest non-university research institutes since 2013

In 2023, around 17,500 international academics and researchers were employed at the four largest non-university research institutions (NURI) in Germany. International academics and researchers or international academic staff are defined as all employed academics and researchers with foreign citizenship. With the exception of a slight decline in 2014, their number rose continuously and significantly between 2013 and 2023 (+94 percent). Between 2018 and 2023, the increase amounted to 34 percent, and between 2022 and 2023 alone, it was 5 percent.
The growth rates vary depending on the NURI. Between 2018 and 2023, they were highest in the case of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (+55 percent), followed by the Helmholtz Association and the Leibniz Association (both +43 percent) and the Max Planck Society (+17 percent). When comparing 2022 and 2023, the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft also stands out with particularly strong relative growth (+13 percent) and the Max Planck Society with comparatively weak relative growth (+1 percent).